Microsoft Word Vs. Google Docs: Do You Really Need MS Office Anymore?

With the arrival of Google Docs, people are seriously asking themselves whether they really need to pay the thick wad of cash needed to get Microsoft Office anymore. It’s not rocket science. $0 is infinitely better than any sum of money you could think of. The ability to share documents via the cloud makes the whole prospect even more attractive. But is it worth it to move onto Google Docs and abandon Office forever? Or are you better off still working with software that’s been around for ages? Let’s find out!

Google Docs

Only a few years ago, the thought of making a web-based word processor was unthinkable. Google Docs remedied the situation with its very existence. Everything about it had the sweet aroma of innovation. Now, more people are starting to look at the prospect of using this software for their own purposes, and for the ability to share their work across the Web to people halfway around the globe without sending an attachment. Today, a document can be transferred via email with a simple link thanks to Google Docs.

Here are the arguments for using Google Docs as opposed to Microsoft Word:

It’s portable, meaning you don’t have to install any software and everything saves instantly through a collaborative environment.

More than one person can work on the document at the same time, making teamwork immensely more productive.

You get most of the functionality of Microsoft Word within this compact application.

It’s unbelievably easy to comment on a piece of text and suggest edits.

Google Docs is fun to use!

Nowhere on the Internet can you actually chat live on the same window you’re writing a document in.

You get an ample amount of storage that dwarfs the Gutenberg Bible.

You can set permissions for people when sharing a document, allowing you to have full control over who can edit, comment, and view the document. You can also let anyone with the link view, edit, or comment. If you’re looking to make a public document that everyone can edit, you can also make it publicly editable. The access control is useful for corporate environments.

And, best of all, Google Docs saves your documents in real-time, as you write them.

Here are a couple of things I didn’t like while working with Google Docs:

The interface is slightly buggy. When I insert an image, I sometimes can’t edit the text below it until I refresh.

Inserting a JPG image is not possible, as far as I’ve seen. I’ve only been able to upload PNG images. Converting isn’t an issue. Even MS Paint can do it. It’s just annoying to have to take that extra step. It’s like having a microwave oven that doesn’t work unless you set the clock.

Nobody working with Google Docs is 100% safe from Google’s policies. Its new privacy policy doesn’t really give you much leeway. It allows Google, under its own discretion, to use your content, reproduce it, or create derivatives of it.

Microsoft Word

Most of the stuff I’ve said about Google Docs would also fall here. Microsoft Word’s been around a while, and MS isn’t unaware of Google’s new toy. In fact, it’s offering a collaborative suite with Microsoft Office products that resembles Google Docs through Office 365, now available for the consumer market. This powerful suite is the thing that might make MS Word continue to be a relevant tool in today’s booming tech sector.

Here are a few arguments to make a case for MS Word vs. Google Docs:

It’s more stable. You don’t get the glitches where you have to refresh the page when you upload images or anything like that. It holds its own pretty well to any battering you give it.

With Office 365, most of the functionality described in Google Docs is implemented. However, you still have to pay for the software.

The interface is more complete, with more editing options and better maneuverability.

The software comes from several years of experience in document management, and this is reflected within its functionality and versatility.

Autocorrect. Who doesn’t love that?!

But there are also things that really break the deal with MS Word:

Autocorrect can be very annoying to someone who is very well-versed in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

The interface is confusing to people who want to move quickly.

Cloud storage is possible with the desktop software, but you have to manually sync it with SkyDrive, which is a pain compared to creating a Google Doc. Office 365 doesn’t present this problem, so it’s a tie here.

You have to pay for it. While the software’s quite extensive, not many people use its full set of features and prefer the minimalist Google Docs platform.

Best of Both World: LibreOffice?

For those who are not keen to pay the premium to Microsoft, but still love the functionalities of a desktop office suite, LibreOffice seems to be the best alternative. It supports Ms documents, as well as the open format and with an extension, you can get it to sync to Google Docs as well.

What’s Your Opinion?

I admit I might have a little tiny bit of bias towards Google Docs since I recently migrated my entire workload there. However, I tried to be as neutral as possible. What are your thoughts? Should we abandon MS Word in favor of Google Docs? Does Office 365 have a chance? Or we should just switch to LibreOffice altogether? Comment below to answer these questions!

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33 comments

bjarnobesays

I use them both at the same time… And sometimes I even use LibreOffice. When I want that a file can be editted by other: Google Docs, when I type a pretty large document with a table of contents or I want to use a quick theme without creating my own: Microsoft Word… all the other times: LibreOffice

Google Docs (actually, it’s now Google Drive) is great, no question. I’ve used it, particularly the spreadsheets, for all kinds of collaborative things, from compiling shared data to scheduling student appointments. But, it’s not ready to replace anybody’s desktop apps. Spreadsheets are the best-developed but have no macros and some other notable limitations relative to Excel. And bad as Word is (worse with each major new version), Google’s word processor is primitive by comparison, extremely limited in formatting capability, impossible to create a complex document. LibreOffice/Ooo remains clunky–seemingly almost deliberately so. With a street price usually under $20, WordPerfect remains the only real choice for a word processor.

No idea, Damien. I’ve had a good read of their policy and it’s ambiguous at best. If you’re talking about exclusive copyrights, then no. It doesn’t have exclusive rights to your content. It has derivative rights. It can make derivatives of things that you make public. No one from Google has responded to comment on this, so I’m not sure what to say.

From all I know, google policies and terms are usually made to protect them from US stupid laws. So, as a rule of thumb, maybe they will own the documents, but they’d probably also try to enforce you own them first and foremost. I haven’t verified this at all, but that’s what I’d expect to find if I did.

I agree. Google Docs is a far cry from MS Office’s capability, especially with Office 365. But it’s free, which is what counts to most people who don’t have the means to get their hands on the software, or people who are cheap like I am.

I haven’t used MS Office in 15 years and ave no desire or need to. OpenOffice was my choice for years, but now Libre Office is what I use. MS Office is simply over priced and has been irrelevant for me for years now. I always recommend free software to people who still think they must “pay” for bloated junk to have a functional computer. My opinion is if you haven’t dumped MS Office, then not only should you do it, but you are wasting money if you don’t.

I don’t upload any documents to the cloud as I believe the potential for security lapses and privacy is outweighed by any advantages. I find sending an attachment to be reliable and relatively secure. If I need face to face, I can use free Skype. MS Office is excellent software and Office 2010, in my opinion, is their best ever

The same problem happens with attachments. There are more serious security implications in IMAP and SMTP traffic if the transactions are not encrypted. And even if they are, someone could easily sniff the data your computer sends. On the cloud, this is not the case, as the data leaves your computer encrypted in most cases. I’ve spent a few years already explaining cloud security to people. On average, cloud services have several times less hacking incidences than email accounts and traditional web-based services.

Still the ownership rights are a game killer for a serious business. I can defend against hacking and interception with encryption, secure proxies, firewalls, etc., but what defence do I have against a legal right to view and use my work? Would just using Google Docs lose Attorney-Client Privilege since Google gets access to it all??

Right. It’s not ideal for business compliance with regulations and administrative responsibilities. However, it’s good for home use when you’re doing homework in college or something like that. Also, some non-sensitive docs in corporations are shared across Google Docs. I’m not sure, but I think Google has a separate plan for corporations. I’d stick to Office 365, though, if I were sharing sensitive stuff internally.

Some time ago I installed OpenOffice and it failed on opening the very first document which was some government publication which wasn’t even sophisticated. I have seen government issued Word documents which are so complex (and looking fantastically good) that my mind boggles. As long as free versions do not open 99.99% of word documents without any problem and errors I will pay for MS Office.

Have you tried LibreOffice? It’s made with the same developers that made OpenOffice. I’m wondering whether it has better performance. For all intents and purposes, I’m all for Google Docs, but MS Office (like you said) has strong merits :)

I have Microsoft office that I bought and paid for about 10 years ago but it will not load on Windows 7. Although all programmes are supposed to be back-compatible they are not. To replace previous programmes that do not now work with W7 will cost me close on $1000. I steer clear of anything Bill Gates and his thieving band introduce unless I have no alternative.

Many of the comments here do not appear to be from users that create very sophisticated “documents”. I now work in a Mac environment, and I hear the same sort of derisive comments about Microsoft Office. I have on my PC, Microsoft Office and Libre Office. I have on my Mac, two versions of Microsoft Office, iWork, and Libra Office. I have used Open Office before I switched to Libre Office on both platforms. Oh, and I have some experience with Unbunto, and Open Office there. I tried Google docs in the early days, and it was just too slow and clunky. In EVERY case, if all you do is simple documents, then the other solutions are fine. However I have files that I use all the time that will simply not open with the formatting that I have in place. It’s like using a .pdf to editable document converter. This is true for Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. So I believe that Msoft Office is here for yet a long time. All the other solutions have a long way to go. A brief note on WordPerfect. This was the best word processor, bar none. Microsoft’s bundling strategy wiped it out in the business world. I’m not familiar with it anymore, but it used to beat Word in any sophisticated document.

In my opinion, MS Office (particularly 2010) is one of the best office suites around, pricey though but then good things don’t come cheap. I have used libre office and WordPerfect but MS Office dusts dem all

i use excel a lot and have not found a suitable replacement. i create and use simple macros to automate my spreadsheets (i miss lotus 123 when it comes to automating). it took me quite a while to learn macros in excel and i’m still learning. any suggestions on a better spreadsheet program? native or on the cloud is good. cheers!